The Bangali Murgi [Chapter Two]

As soon as the plane landed in Chittagong, Dania felt like Harry Potter. Only she was going into a world of punishments rather than a world of magic. She had no idea how she will cope with all the punishments she will have to take.

Dania loved the house. There were many servants in the house, so she was not do any chores. This she could live with she told herself.

There was still one and a half month for the school to start, so the biggest concern for Rehana and Saleem was to get Dania the Bangladeshi nationality. And they also felt that since Dania will not be going to school for a while, they could arrange for her to learn Bengali language at home. Rehana was very determined to convert Dania into a complete Bengali as soon as possible. This is the only way she could forget Pakistan and her old parents. After one week of getting used to each other and surroundings, Dania was introduced to her Bengali tutor. She was teacher Salma.

Damn she looks strict. What is she going to do to me during lessons.

But to her surprise, teacher Salma was very sweet and taught very well. She didn't even scold, she acted like a friend. Rehana had asked teacher Salma to work on her spoken Bengali first, then after she had gotten good in spoken, she can work on reading and writing. Dania found it extremely easy, as many words matched with Urdu.

 After 2 weeks, they showed her her Bangladeshi passport. When she saw it, she felt like a stamp of Bangali is posted on her buttocks, a stamp of being a Bangali Murgi. She was now a complete Bangali. Right after showing her the new passport, Rehana also passed a new rule in the house.

"No more Urdu or English in the house!"
"You must converse in pure Bengali from now on in the house as you are now a pure Bengali."

Dania had learned quite a bit of Bengali, but she was not well versed. She still struggled to make complete sentences.

I wonder what will be the offense for speaking in Urdu or English in the house? I hope it is not one of those ear punishments.

Dania broke the law 2 days later.
She was trying to say a sentence in her broken Bengali, when she accidentally uttered a word in Urdu.

"That is an Urdu word." Rehana said.
Dania looked in anticipation at Rehana's face. What will she make me do now? Make me murga for it?

After a long silence, Rehana finally said, "Apologize!"

Ohh, that is it. I thought I was in trouble.

"Sorry." Dania said in Bengali.

"Not like this. Hold your ears and say sorry." Rehana commanded.

So it is true, Bengali's love ears. This is it. My first ear punishment now.

"Should I stand up and hold my ears or I can say it while sitting only?" She inquired. Talking like this about ear holding seemed an embarrassment on its own.

"You can sit and hold your ears."

Dania took her hands and grabbed her ears without thinking much. Her ear lobes felt cold. "Sorry."

"Make sure whenever you say sorry you hold your ears too. Otherwise they are meaningless words. You have to show from your body language that you are sorry. And not just to me, but to everyone from now on. Being my daughter you are required to do this."

By the time Dania left her ears, her face had started coloring red. It wasn't so apparent because of her dark color. Her ears especially had gone red and from cold to hot.

Holding her ears made Dania fall deeper into the Bangali hole. She felt like another of her Pakistani part has been taken away. Now she can't even say sorry without holding her ears. Her body felt like a Bangali Murgi more than ever.


School was due to start tomorrow. She was to start her class 9. She was admitted in the Chittagong Grammar School, which was one of the best schools in the city. The uniform was red check kameez with red shalwar. The sleeves of the kameez had to be small, just the way she liked it.

When she wore the uniform in the morning, she felt even more Bangali. Wearing the uniform felt like a punishment in itself.
During breakfast, she uttered a word in English. For which she was made to hold her ears and say sorry again. In a span of 2 days, she had held her ears twice. In Pakistan, she had never held her ears.

"Next time I will punish you for this, sorry will not suffice anymore."

Great. That is just what I had to hear on my first day of school, when I am so anxious about punishments in school.

Dania had the urge to ask what sorts of punishments will Rehana subject her to, but didn't.

Her first day went pretty well. She made 2 friends. There were 16 girls and 14 boys in the class. She had been exempted from second language Bengali for the first term, but it was compulsory to take it in the second term to pass the class as she did not have a foreign passport anymore.
In the meanwhile, teacher Salma had started working on her written Bangla. Dania was really struggling in writing and reading as the alphabets were alien to her.
With the struggle, teacher Salma's attitude had begun to change, but she hadn't yet punished Dania in anyway, not even threatened.

After one week of schooling, the teachers in the school went into punishing mode. But it were the boys who were mostly punished. Just once the Algebra teacher made 2 girls stand holding their ears for talking in class. Girls were mostly just scolded and reprimanded.

Dania received her first punishment during the Bengali class in the third week. The Bengali teacher was not very strict, didn't scold or became angry, but punished a lot. In every class she made at least 2 students do uthak baithak 100 times for one reason or another. Making students stand holding their ears was her favorite. In the Bengali class, she commanded all the students to stand holding their ears, because they had forgotten to remind her of a certain topic. All the students stood, but Dania kept sitting as she was exempted from Bengali, and wasn't responsible for the mistake.
"You also stand and catch your ears. Join the class."

Dania did not have the guts to protest or say anything. She stood up and found it extremely difficult to hold her ears.

But i didn't do anything. Why am I punished?

 She was standing and thinking, when the Bengali teacher said, "Clench your ears."
The 2 girls who were standing in front turned their necks to look at her. Dania felt it is even more humiliating to hold your ears and turn around. The 2 girls really made her uncomfortable, even though they were the ones who were holding their ears and Dania had not held her yet. So I will look just like them now.


Dania raised her gorgeous hands to grasp her small ears, as her heart beat got faster.
As her hands were going up to embrace her ears, a storm of thoughts rushed through her mind.

Who came up with this punishment?
What is the purpose of holding ears?
Why are ears so significant? Maybe they aren't, that is why holding them is a punishment?
What have ears got to do with anything?
Why is holding them so hard? I mean they are just a tiny part of the body.
Grabbing ears, so easy, yet so hard?


Her fingers finally met their destination. She had never felt more discomfort in her life.
I cannot stand like this for long. 

Dania had no idea where to look. She felt like the whole class was looking at her. Looking at how stupid she looked holding her ears, even though they were also holding their ears. But she was a Pakistani and she was a new student in the school. They were used to it, she wasn't. That is why maybe everyone was looking at her. She looked down at her desk as this was the only place she could dare look.

As time passed, she felt like she is converting into a complete 'Bangalan'. How can holding ears and standing have this effect on someone? It was like a process, a transformation process going on. Like her hands were some sort of an equipment that were converting her into a Bangalan by holding her ears. She had never felt the power of her ears so much. Her ears were small and insignificant, but now she was feeling their true power. When Rehana had made her hold her ears twice, the effect was not so much. She realized holding the ears as a punishment was completely different than just touching them to say sorry. When you are holding them as punishment, you have to tighten the grip on your ears from time to time as your fingers tend to slip off the ear lobes.

The Bengali period was the last period. The whole class was made to stand for a whole 45 minutes. The weather was hot and Dania had started sweating. The fan was good enough to keep the students cool, but after the punishment was given, her body had heated up more. The bell finally rung and students from other classes started coming out with bags loaded on their backs. As they passed the door and window of class 9 they looked in. None of the class 9 students dared move or leave their ears. They could only do it if the teacher asked them. They were left 5 minutes after the bell.

As Dania picked up her bag and walked out of the class she felt as if her transformation was complete. She was now a complete Bangali Murgi. Standing for 45 minutes holding your ears isn't something you would be made to do in Pakistan. After this I won't be accepted into the Pakistani society anymore. She could not walk straight. Her bottom felt funny. She went straight to her car and sat. This is the time she accepted the fact that she was a Bangali Murgi from now and this was her life from now on. She should embrace it. She should have this relationship with her ears now. She must not feel any embarrassment taking ear punishments anymore. But was it as simple as she thinks it is. She decided that she will now go to the house and say some word in Urdu, and before Rehana asks her to hold her ears and say sorry, she would do it on her own. In this way she could tell herself that she has accepted her Bengali-ness.

[Chapter three to follow]